isopropyl-thiogalactoside and cumic-acid

Agrotransfection with viral vectors is an effective solution for the transient production of valuable proteins in plants grown in contained facilities. Transfection methods suitable for field applications are desirable for the production of high-volume products and for the transient molecular reprogramming of plants. The use of genetically modified (GM) Agrobacterium strains for plant transfections faces substantial biosafety issues. The environmental biosafety of GM Agrobacterium strains could be improved by regulating their T-DNA transfer via chemically inducible expression of virE2, one of the essential Agrobacterium virulence genes. In order to identify strong and stringently regulated promoters in Agrobacterium strains, we evaluated isopropyl-β-d-thiogalactoside-inducible promoters Plac, Ptac, PT7/lacO, and PT5/lacOlacO and cumic acid-inducible promoters PlacUV5/CuO, Ptac/CuO, PT5/CuO, and PvirE/CuO. Nicotiana benthamiana plants were transfected with a virE2-deficient A. tumefaciens strain containing transient expression vectors harboring inducible virE2 expression cassettes and containing a marker green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene in their T-DNA region. Evaluation of T-DNA transfer was achieved by counting GFP expression foci on plant leaves. The virE2 expression from cumic acid-induced promoters resulted in 47 to 72% of wild-type T-DNA transfer. Here, we present efficient and tightly regulated promoters for gene expression in A. tumefaciens and a novel approach to address environmental biosafety concerns in agrobiotechnology.

Topics: Agrobacterium tumefaciens; Bacterial Proteins; Benzoates; DNA-Binding Proteins; DNA, Bacterial; Fluorescence; Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; Green Fluorescent Proteins; Ion Channels; Isopropyl Thiogalactoside; Luminescent Measurements; Nicotiana; Plant Leaves; Plants, Genetically Modified; Promoter Regions, Genetic; Transfection; Virulence

Inducible expression is a versatile genetic tool for controlling gene transcription, determining gene functions and other uses. Herein, we describe our attempts to create several inducible systems based on a cumate or a resorcinol switch, a hammerhead ribozyme, the LacI repressor, and isopropyl β-d-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG). We successfully developed a new cumate (p-isopropylbenzoic acid)-inducible gene switch in actinobacteria that is based on the CymR regulator, the operator sequence (cmt) from the Pseudomonas putida cumate degradation operon and P21 synthetic promoter. Resorcinol-inducible expression system is also functional and is composed of the RolR regulator and the PA3 promoter fused with the operator (rolO) from the Corynebacterium glutamicum resorcinol catabolic operon. Using the gusA (β-glucuronidase) gene as a reporter, we showed that the newly generated expression systems are tightly regulated and hyper-inducible. The activity of the uninduced promoters is negligible in both cases. Whereas the induction factor reaches 45 for Streptomyces albus in the case of cumate switch and 33 in the case of resorcinol toggle. The systems are also dose-dependent, which allows the modulation of gene expression even from a single promoter. In addition, the cumate system is versatile, given that it is functional in different actinomycetes. Finally, these systems are nontoxic and inexpensive, as these are characteristics of cumate and resorcinol, and they are easy to use because inducers are water-soluble and easily penetrate cells. Therefore, the P21-cmt-CymR and PA3-rolO-RolR systems are powerful tools for engineering actinobacteria.

Topics: Actinobacteria; Benzoates; Corynebacterium glutamicum; Escherichia coli Proteins; Genes, Reporter; Genetic Vectors; Genetics, Microbial; Glucuronidase; Isopropyl Thiogalactoside; Lac Repressors; Molecular Biology; Molecular Sequence Data; Operator Regions, Genetic; Promoter Regions, Genetic; Pseudomonas putida; Resorcinols; RNA, Catalytic; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Transcription Factors; Transcriptional Activation